


Collecting Stars

by Corehealer



Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [7]
Category: Ascian - Fandom, Final Fantasy XIV, Shadowbringers - Fandom
Genre: Consensual Mind Control, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Leylines (Laylines), Masks, Matchmaking, Memory, Mind Meld, Multi, Oral Sex, Other, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Romantic Friendship, Sex, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27074884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corehealer/pseuds/Corehealer
Summary: Slightly self indulgent multiple ship action on a Saturday night. Some worldbuilding, some romance, some tender moments and a bit of sex. This work explores a few fan theories too, but is not quite indicative of the author's thoughts on said theories, just that I find them entertaining. And a little heartwarming, in context. Expect more to come from this ship dynamic in future.Y'shtola, Emet-Selch and Sarah Corehealer have a lovely dinner with Aymeric after a rough day for Sarah in the Ishgardian House of Commons. In gratitude for the meal, the three of them help Aymeric in turn with some of his feelings for a certain Garlean of his acquaintance.Afterwards, the three of them find themselves eager to get to know each other more, after several days of Emet's stories about Amaurot. In the pursuit of memories old and new, they discover much more then any of them dared to hope for. Within themselves, and within each other.
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Lucia goe Junius, Hythlodaeus & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch & Y'shtola Rhul, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus/Warrior of Light, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light, Y'shtola Rhul/Warrior of Light
Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913674
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Dinner

_Gone is the brilliant radiance of life._

_Replaced by the sickly glow of malformed creatures._

_Is this to be how it ends? For we who loved the star with all our being?_

_…_

_Though salvation is ours, it came at great sacrifice._

_All that remains is to pray… To pray that we will one day meet again, beneath a blue sky._

**_What price will you pay?_ **

_…_

_No. I will not suffer it to be so._

_I will not suffer it to be so._

**_We will not._ **

_…_

_I will pay any price. For them._

**_For Him._ **

***

She hadn’t really eaten this evening.

The long session of the Houses of Lords and Commons had dragged on in opening ceremony, debate and then, her address. It had started out civil enough. She was actually glad to be able to see the lords and commoners working together to build a new future together, at first. They seemed happy to see her too, for the most part.

Then it came time for her to tell them the truth. About why she had come.

She told them everything, as she had done so much of late. Practically like reading off a script she’d prepared. The events of her journey to the First. Of her life before, of his relation to her, his identity. Of Amaurot and all the rest. Why she had brought him to Eorzea, and in turn to Ishgard. To explain, and try to help them understand.

Words were, now moreso then ever before, proving to be insufficient, however. She was having her first encounter with the cold realities of a nation, full as it was with those possessed of fears and anxieties about the future, having already jolted suddenly into a new world, a new way of ordering their society in only a few short years.

Ishgard was a nation that was well acquainted with struggling with the concept of forgiveness. And, like any other sundered soul, it’s people were now struggling to understand the true nature of their world, without the comfort of faith and devotion to a comprehensible ideal. It was at this, perhaps moreso then the man she stood with, that they railed against.

So many questions, and darting eyes of noble lords and commoners alike as they regarded Emet-Selch with rising worry, that former emperor of Garlemald, standing next to her at the central dais as she struggled with time to properly address every word and petitioner to speak. Aymeric did his best to moderate tempers and the harsher words that came, but she found to her surprise, or perhaps not so much to her surprise as to her anger, that many among the people of Ishgard cared not that she was the Warrior of Light and Hero of Ishgard both. They only cared about what he had done. And what this action of hers seemed to represent for them.

“He’s a security threat!”

“He’ll bring the Empire’s wrath down upon us!”

“Or worse, another Calamity!”

“And she would ally with him and undo all the good she’s done?”

“Why?”

What madness was this for her to lay with him? To court his embrace and take him into their home like someone worthy of the See? Ascians had been the ones to manipulate Thordan, and the dragons in turn in past ages. They had caused endless woe and death, time after time. They may as well have been the ones to bring about the Dragonsong War. Why should they be willing to bring one of them into their home just on her say so? Who did she think she was?

She may as well have been a heretic caught consorting with dragons, even with the newfound peace she had bled to deliver to them.

She listened as they traded words seemingly heedless of her continuing presence. Those personally removed from her, it would seem, were more likely to react with bitterness and confusion, with scorn for this development. Edmont was silent through it all, off to one side, attending these sessions largely out of an abundance of time in retirement and out of respect for the new order, alongside his sons who actually participated. Artoirel and Emmanellain were the most active in defense of her, having known her the longest and most personally and owing her a great deal after everything she’d done for them and their house. They didn’t understand what she was doing, but they would not abandon her to the wolves in this difficult moment.

“She would not do this without good reason.”

“She’s always been a friend to us, even when we were not a friend to her.”

But the Fortemps were her supporters. This was old news. Easy to disregard.

Haillenarte was more mixed in their appraisal, Francel often having to offer uncomfortable questions for Sarah on this matter at the behest of his house, including from his confused father Baurendouin. He and his kin could not commit to her as readily as Fortemps, even with their appreciation for her help with the Skysteel Manufactory and the Restoration. Francel himself was confused too, as to how such a kind and compassionate hero as her could fall so deeply into the claws of someone who seemed so antithetical to her whole existence. What would Haurchefant have thought to see the person he had given his life for in the arms of an Ascian?

He saw her visit his grave often, and that was enough to elicit at least a few words of defense, limited as they were by his need to represent his family’s interests.

“Many of our brothers and sisters have fought beside her, died beside her, not least of which was Ser Haurchefant. I have to believe they did not sacrifice themselves for someone who would lie to us and deceive our nation. No matter how difficult the facts might be to accept.”

Drillemont, who was present for this session, spoke in her defense given their long association, but was subsequently overruled by others among his kin. Jannequinard knew not what to say, fidgeting in his seat with his divination deck, trying to discern how he could have missed this drastic turn of fate. Dzemael was much more universal in its condemnation; they all acknowledged her service to Ishgard, but unlike the others, not a one among them came out in understanding or support of her decisions or with her bringing Emet into their midst. No matter what she said about how things were.

Count Charlemend de Durendaire, the elder of that house, was particularly vociferous in his condemnation of allowing the Garlean Emperor and an Ascian both across the threshold of the Steps of Faith, ignoring the fact that the knights at the gates would have never possessed the knowledge to know of Emet’s true identities, or have reason to deny a seeming guest of the Hero and her Scion allies. But of all the words that passed into her ears in the Vault that day, his were the ones that stuck out the most in her mind, and which had been the ones to cause a long silence that ended only when Aymeric called a recess.

“She may as well be an Ascian herself. How can we know for certain she didn’t just engineer all of these events she had a hand in to bring about this end? To manipulate us? Control us like her vile brothers and sisters attempted to do?”

To this she had been almost ready to scream at him in front of everyone, for so sorely missing the point. But Emet and Y’shtola both, from behind her, reached out to hold her back and calm her down. She stormed out as soon as the session was concluded. The room emptied out and left a city full of rapidly developing opinions, rumours, and taller tales about the truth of the matter.

***

She wasn’t really thinking about that now, though.

**“She may as well be an Ascian.”**

_She may as well be an Ascian._

They didn’t know what that word really meant. What they had been, and to some degree still were. They wouldn’t know Zodiark from a lightning aspected crystal.

Could she claim to know what He was any more than they could, though? Maybe that was what Elidibus’ memory had been about, the other night. Even when dead, his memory lingered with a desire to help her see why they had been so devoted to the path they had been. Tempering or no. His final gift, stirring in her soul, seeking to help her understand things from their perspective. Without the more biased viewpoint of Emet-Selch, which had presently become the primary means for her to understand that long gone life.

Maybe she was one of them and had been the whole time without even knowing it. She just needed to realize it.

She shook her head. Too much. It’s all too much to swallow.

“Food not to your liking?”

“Too much to swallow. I’ve lost my appetite, tis all.” She folded her arms on the dinner table, atop a soft white napkin.

“Understandable, after earlier.” Aymeric sat smiling softly from across the table, everything laid out in his dining room more or less exactly as it had been when she had been received by him what seemed like ages ago now, not long after she’d saved his city from Nidhogg’s wrath and Thordan’s megalomania. Candlelight and marble floors, fine Ishgardian fare and delectable wines from Vylbrand in their glasses. A large chunk of rock salt, hewn from the Diadem, off to one side, for seasoning. She glanced at it while her thoughts resumed awareness of the present moment.

“ _More for us then, hero_!” Emet-Selch, not far from her at the table, to her left. She hadn’t seen him really eat or drink much previous to this moment. Now, he was putting away a multicourse meal of figs, quails, cheeses and various varieties of bread. An entire salad coursed through with sweet vinaigrettes and delicate blood orange slices, paired with local nuts from the Highlands. How a being currently comprised of pure aether bound to a stone in her pocket was able to eat so much in one sitting was a mystery perhaps greater than any other that yet resided in her mind this evening.

“Are you so certain you don’t require food to sustain your form, Paragon? I could but swear on the Twelve you are as voracious as a hungry dragon after a long journey!” Y’shtola to her right, eating the same food as Emet was in equally large portions, another thing Sarah had never witnessed from her longtime companion. They almost seemed to be engaged in a race to see who could stuff the most food down their gullet. Aymeric, for his part, had eaten little, as she had, seeming more interested in conversation.

“I must apologize again, sincerely, for the conduct of my countrymen this day. I had anticipated, after our conversations last night in the infirmary, that this would be a rather… difficult topic of discussion in the Vault. But I had not imagined so many would react so stridently as they did to cast you aside at the first opportunity. After all you’ve done for us.”

“I guess in hindsight I shouldn’t be all that surprised. Telling the people of the Toll was one thing. Adventurers are a lot more accepting of complex and difficult circumstances, new ideas, new challenges. And even for all their disagreements with me over this the Scions have come around for the most part. As Y’shtola can attest.” She glanced over at the miqo’te who merely nodded, face forward towards a particularly large bowl of stew. Maybe the long dormancy of her soul in the First and the longing for Runar’s cooking had prompted this reaction?

Sarah continued to fiddle with some peas on her plate as she continued. “I forget sometimes that politics and public opinion are much more complicated then all that. When you have a solid home, a world you know and no other, you get defensive of it. Set in your ways. They’ve been through a lot because of me. Had to change a lot of their lives and beliefs already because of me. I can’t hold that response to my words against them.”

“Even so, I would have hoped more of them would have been willing to at least give you a chance, the benefit of the doubt. I know I am still… grappling with all of this myself.” Aymeric glanced at Emet, who presently had a dodo tenderloin in his mouth.

“You know, I have to admit, it is rather amusing to me to be back here again, even with these circumstances. I’ve wanted to finish our meal for ages.”

“The feeling is mutual my friend. I just hadn’t expected it would end with your own friends, not least of which consists of the Garlean emperor himself.”

“ _Come now, can it really be so hard to believe people change_?” Emet thought on those words and his own prior opinion on the matter.

“ _Actually, no, perhaps it is_.” He took a sip of wine and continued to eat.

Sarah chuckled. “Case in point.”

She turned back to Aymeric. “So, how have you fared yourself of late Lord Commander? I imagine you’ve been keeping busy what with matters in Gyr Abania being what they are.”

“In truth, I’ve had to delegate much of the military matters to Lucia and others and focus instead on balancing matters here closer to home. The new government has been progressing well at winning the trust and support of the people, highborn and low, especially with initiatives such as the Restoration. But tensions remain from the past, especially among the clergy as they struggle still to adapt ages old doctrines to the current reality we now live with. Dragons openly flying the skies and wandering the streets, mainly in the Firmament where some few former heretics have even returned home in draconic forms to resume their old lives.”

He took a sip of his wine and glanced down at his mostly empty plate. “It has been a lot to take in, and even I have occasionally been given pause when interacting with them. Catching myself in the thought of wondering how this could possibly be real.”

“A feeling I can very much relate to, believe me.” She glanced at Emet again.

“All told though, nothing I could say of my own circumstances could hope to match the sheer awe inspiring nature of your own experiences on that other world. I shall have to content myself with the knowledge that moments like this sharing your company are the closest I will get to a life of adventure and heroism.”

“You could always ask G’raha about how to make the leap, from head of state to adventurer.” They both laughed, smiling.

“Mayhaps I will take him up on that advice, if I ever grow tired of the cold. But that day hasn’t come yet, I am sad to say.”

At last, their two dining companions had finally completed their long consummation of the meal, and patted their stomachs nearly simultaneously.

“A finer meal I have not had in years. You have my thanks Lord Commander.”

“ _Compliments to the chef, a rival to any I knew in Garlemald and the Imperial kitchens_.”

“Our provincial fare was to your liking, Emet-Selch?”

“ _As I said, I do not require food for sustenance. I prefer to talk and to listen and to drink in emotion. But certainly, in my current state as a bound soul in a piece of crystal, I can find some measure of appreciation for a good meal. Some foods are bland to me, but your offering was surprisingly diverse in palette and pairing. The wines especially are almost enough to make me nostalgic_.”

“I am glad you enjoyed them, then.”

“I must concur with his assessment. Was quite a meal indeed. The stews remind me of the ones a man I know on the First was fond of making to sustain his people in periods of hardship. I suppose they can relate in that sense to Ishgard’s struggles.”

“Perhaps, but to hear you all tell it, this ‘First’ has struggled through arguably far more hardship for far longer than us. I wish a way existed for us to offer them aid, like how those in Doma aided us in the siege of Ala Mhigo.”

A silent moment. They glanced at the wine in their midst, with Sarah’s thoughts drawn to the men and women of Kholusia who were even now beginning to relearn the art of vinification. So much had been lost on both worlds, to war, to famine, to hardship and ignorance and crueler fates. Good people, gone forever. She’d been granted a chance to begin again, and she knew she must not waste it. No matter what the hardships that awaited her were.

She poured out the last of the wine bottles on the table into each of their glasses and lifted hers.

“A toast. To the First, to the Source, and to the future. For those we’ve lost, and for those we can yet save.”

“Here here.”

“And for the other shards as well.”

“ _For a better tomorrow_.”

They all drank deep of the glasses, drinking in the air afterwards with a gasp and then chuckling for a moment together. As they soaked in this moment, Emet had an idea for how to spice things up a bit. A bit of after dinner entertainment. Something that would be good for the Lord Commander, he mused.

“ _So, Aymeric. I’m told this dinner is a continuation of one you held alone with the Warrior here some years past. That sounds an awful lot like a date to me_.”

Aymeric’s face, perhaps a bit from the wine, turned pinkish red in his cheeks. “Ah, I suppose, from a certain point of view… I enjoy her company, and her tales of the outside world. It was a fine reprieve, sadly cut short by extenuating circumstances.”

“ _But to wait so many years to continue a chase? Seems a bit of a long time to wait when so interesting a character sits across from you even now, having been the one to come to you to propose this continuation of that moment_?”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“ _Come now. I have lived long enough to see and know when a man fancies a woman, and you are much too important a man to be without plenty of potential suitors yourself. And yet, you still remain single, and so dreadfully reserved! Live a little my good sir_!”

He snapped his fingers. A kazoo appeared in Aymeric’s mouth, bright orange. He blew on it briefly in surprise before it fell from his mouth and disintegrated in blue particles before him. Y’shtola laughed heartily at this.

“Oho that was a good trick! You must be sure to teach me that one Paragon.”

“ _I would be glad to teach you a great deal, Scion, with your Warrior’s permission_.”

Sarah’s eyebrows both went up at this comment, Y’shtola blushing a bit with drink and Emet’s smirking gaze in her direction. Aymeric, for his part, was attempting to adjust his collar and composure again. This man was ever so… aggravating. He was disarmed from this line of thought however by Sarah returning her attention to him.

“So, is that true? Do you fancy me, Lord Commander?”

“I… well… that… hmm. But that would be-”

“Oh perhaps it would be inappropriate, so far as your peers are concerned, but it needn’t be anything too serious, if you’d prefer to try and let loose once and a while. You must be so sick of standing up so straight all the time in the company of stuffed corsets.”

He hadn’t seen this side of the Hero of Ishgard, or for that matter felt this way before, a strange medley of emotions both welcome and disturbing stirring around in his stomach alongside his meal. For a man used to addressing a shifting battlefield and commanding men, he was at a loss for words or any idea of how to proceed in this moment.

She shrugged. “Truly, Aymeric, I am flattered. But I prefer interest to be paired with a bit more… attentiveness. Action. You need to be willing to keep up! I do get around, after all.”

She smiled at him in consolation. “Your devotion and penchant for romantic moments is admirable but you’d be better served trying this trick out on Lucia sometime. You might be surprised with what you find there.”

His face was once again unreadable, lost in thought on this idea. The others gradually started to laugh.

“It hadn’t even occurred to him, had it? Too fixated on forbidden fruits to see the lover in his midst.”

“I knew from the moment I met them she had eyes for him, but he was too oblivious to notice!”

“ _Maybe it would do you in better stead, my dear, to assist the good Lord Commander with his troubles in this matter_?”

“Do we even know where she is at this late hour?”

Aymeric interjected suddenly. “The Congregation, like as not.” His face was now a shade of beet red, slightly downcast and lacking his normal easy mask. Y’shtola could even see his aether spinning ever so slightly inside him, roiling with emotion.

Maybe the drinks had loosened a bit more then just tongues this evening. Y’shtola nodded.

“I will return in but a moment. Be sure to summon forth another batch of wine my friends. I fear the Lord Commander is in for a late night…”

More chuckling, Emet in particular beaming as he took in the sight of Y’shtola getting up from her chair and walking out the door, hips swaying ever so slightly from side to side under her robe. Hypnotic, just like Sarah’s own. Sarah, sensing his interest, set her own mind not to jealousy but plotting something they both might enjoy.

“What… you don’t seriously mean to bring her here?”

“ _And why not? If you refuse to do what is in your best interest then it falls to us as your friends to help you_.”

“You-” Emet interjected. “ _Am a friend. Even if it is not readily apparent. Now pay attention. You might learn something_.”

He turned to Sarah.

“ _Sarah my dear, please show the good Commander how to properly greet a paramour_.”

She smirked, then motioned over closer to lean in, whispering in his ear something unintelligible to Aymeric but which made even Emet beam in surprise and laughter.

“ _Not what I had expected but we shall need to discuss this idea after we’ve assisted him. A fine plan my dear_.”

She smiled, and then kissed him on the lips, lingering a few moments before parting and grinning. Aymeric shifted uncomfortably in his chair before being relieved from that moment by Y’shtola’s return.

“Thankfully, she was not far, in the Crozier inspecting a shipment of new weapon molds recently arrived from Limsa’s smiths.” She parted from the door to allow Lucia to enter.

“Lord Commander; whatever is this all about? Y’shtola would not say, only that you had something important you wanted to show me?” She paid the others little heed, her focus solely on the Lord Commander’s wellbeing.

She took a seat next to him, still wearing her silvery armor and her new broach from yesterday, in contrast to Aymeric’s formal attire and now completely tomato red face, unable to meet her gaze.

“Are you ill sir? Has the food disagreed with you?”

Slowly, Y’shtola placed a couple fresh glasses between them as they began to talk. She poured out a new bottle of wine from the nearby bottle stand into each glass, and then motioned for the others to make a quiet exit.

“I was… I mean. Well.”

“Is aught amiss?”

He looked up at her, eyes attentive and filled with a little bit of worry. She’d never seen him like this. Her voice was soft. Inviting. Why had he never heard it quite this way before? Maybe he had drank too much tonight.

He looked up at her, barely noticing as the door closed behind Emet, Sarah and Y’shtola as they made their way into the main hall and towards the exit of his home.

“Lucia. I must apologize.”

“For what?”

“For never noticing before.”

“Never noticing wha-” His lips were on hers, stifling her speech. After a moment of surprise, she leaned into him, gradually losing her balance at the sudden onset of rushing emotion. They lingered there a moment before coming up for air.

“What… what brought that on?”

“My… friends. Sarah and her companions. They are… were here for dinner.” He noticed their absence.

“I suppose they’ve retired for the evening. They were teasing me about…” He couldn’t quite finish the sentence. She shook her head.

“It certainly took you long enough.” His surprise at this statement was cut short by another, lingering kiss. Armored gloves pressed against a silken shirt. Warm despite the cold steel.

They would be having a long discussion, and a longer night indeed.

***

Into the cold Coerthan air outside of Aymeric’s manor the three matchmakers stepped forth, each chuckling and smiling knowingly, certain that they had achieved a good deed tonight, bringing two estranged lovers together.

“They’ll make a cute couple.” Sarah placed her tall wizard hat back on her head and gazed up at the cloudy night sky. Snow was beginning to fall softly around them.

“ _A fitting payment for a fine meal, I should think_.” Emet adjusted his form away from his Garlean attire to his traveling coat from yesterday, eyes trailing between his two walking companions.

“ _But on to the other matter you mentioned my dear_.” Emet looked over to Sarah knowingly.

“Some other Ascian plot being hatched in my midst I see. Count me in.” Y’shtola didn’t hesitate to pick up on their meaning, smirking not unlike they did in this moment.

She’d never seen this side of her, except in passing. She was normally reserved in matters of the heart, not unlike Sarah was herself. Something about Emet seemed to bring a great deal out of them both in this regard, in addition to a hunger for knowledge which was easy to coax.

“Are you sure Shtola? I was… it was a bit more of an idle thought. I wouldn’t want to impose on you and Runar.”

“Runar is dear to me, and I meant what I said about finding a way to visit him again someday. So I can make good on a great deal with him. He was a good friend to me, him and his people both, and I miss them every day.”

“I will be sure to relay any words you may have for him and them anytime. And certainly I share your commitment to finding a way to bridge the divide between the Source and the First.”

Y’shtola smiled at her friend and longtime peer in magical matters. A sister from another tribe in all but name, after long years spent in the Scions together. She continued on this course.

“But… these last few days with you and him have… it is hard to explain. I feel as though I know him somehow, not unlike you do. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that it has been quite some time since I’ve felt this… animated in my own body. I would like to make the most of these opportunities, if you both are willing.”

“ _Absence has a habit of making the heart grow fonder, even in matters of the soul towards it’s body. Or such has been my experience_.” Emet mused, continuing to wander his eyes around to various places, around them and among them.

“Your body being long gone in the Sundering.” She sounded a sad tone, recalling this fact of his existence, and his current circumstance as a soul tethered to her Azem stone. He nodded in agreement as she continued.

“It has gladdened me greatly to learn of the old world from him, and to learn of your lives, and most of all to see you, my old friend, so much happier than I’ve ever seen you. You’ve never lived an easy life by any means. You deserve to be happy, regardless of the nature of that happiness or its source.”

“I appreciate that, Shtola. You’ve been a good friend to me as well these long years. Indispensable even.” They both smiled.

She thought for a moment, right hand raised to her lips in reflection. Then, she turned to Emet, studying his aether with her grey eyes.

“I would try to know more of my own past, as she has. However unclear a picture might be in the offering; it is better then the ignorance I possess now. And Sarah can attest to how much I detest an unsolved mystery.”

“ _It has been rather obvious, the way you look at me like a scholar might regard a rare tome_.”

“Among other things, of late.” He smirked again, looking up at a passing lamppost in the Pillars as they continued to walk.

“Interesting. I honestly couldn’t have expected.”

“I wouldn’t quite call it the same as what you both share. But call me curious. And a little bit academic in this regard. Remembering the past should be enjoyable, once in a while, and learning about the soul along the way is just icing on the cake.”

“ _T’would seem we’ve won her over, my dear_.” He stated.

“T’would certainly seem so.” She concurred.

“You make it sound like it was difficult.”

“To my knowledge you’ve never even been with anyone, but certainly not for lack of trying like Aymeric, or for lack of interest. I still remember the Nhamaa incident.”

“ _Oh do tell_.”

“No no no! There’s no need to bore the esteemed Emet-Selch with any talk of Magnai of all people.” She huffed in protest.

“Just something from our time in the Azim Steppe. I’ll let her tell you about it some time.” He nodded briefly in acknowledgement.

“Why don’t we continue this conversation somewhere more private, hmm? It is rather chilly out here. I’d rather be reminiscing in front of a roaring fire somewhere.” They finally came to one of the gates leading down into the lower levels of the city.

Sarah thought for a moment. “I have a room in the Knight but… I wouldn’t call it exactly the most comfortable of settings. It never bothered me much for just myself but for company I’d rather something a bit less… bottle strewn and broken.”

“ _Take us there anyway, my dear. I think I have an idea of how we can improve it_.”

She looked up at him briefly with an inquisitive eye before nodding. They started making their way down the steps to the Foundation.


	2. Dessert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I particularly enjoyed writing the following. I look forward to writing more about their dynamic in the context of my series.

She closed the door as the both of them settled in, Emet regarding the walls of stone with the eye of an architect studying a surface in need of improvement and Y’shtola huddling down beside the fireplace, already lit by a snap of his fingers.

“ _Give me but a moment ladies, to prepare a suitable stage_.”

“Is he always this dramatic?”

“Yes, and it never gets old, at least for me.” She chuckled, brushing up close to Y’shtola. She’d never been this close to her before. Her robes were a rough leather in their exterior but her aether and body were warm. The feathers in her hair tickled Sarah’s skin slightly as they brushed her cheek.

“So, did you have anything you’d like us to know before we start?”

“Only to remember that my sight is not quite as readily keen of the physical world these days, given the travails of Flow’s use. I might fumble a bit to respond to any given cues.”

“ _To be quite honest, that is more of a boon in my book, for several reasons. Chief among them being your sight for the Lifestream is quite keen for one so sundered, which allows you an arguably greater Sight overall, and something more akin to my own perception. It will serve you better then even Sarah’s eyes in this moment_.”

“Truly? How intriguing.” She furrowed her brow, a small smirking smile creasing the edge of her lips as she thought on this, eyes resting on the fireplace and the aether dancing within it, reflecting its light in her grey irises.

“ _I am also given to understand from Sarah that some people enjoy being blindfolded. If you are one, then your nature obliges you tellingly_.”

She laughed at this. “An interesting observation indeed, Emet-Selch. I suppose you’ll just have to find that one out for yourself.”

He snapped his fingers. “ _I look forward to it_.”

The room gradually unfurled along a band of reddish blue light from it’s previously dirty and soot stained nature, transforming before their eyes into a glamour of a room that seemed more akin to a Amaurot apartment. A bedroom. Windows drawn with silken grey curtains, blue light blushing faintly from beneath. The bed was now a large, curtained bed, not unlike the one she had shared with him in a memory she had experienced in her dreams not long ago. Gold, purple and black, filigreed and ornate, artfully decorated in the style of the Ancients. The fireplace seemed stately and ornate in turn, as did the rest of the walls, the marble floors that seemed to be almost shining obsidian, the carpets and chairs and drawers. The lamps turned towards arched, ornate light fixtures, drawn down somewhat dim to soften the room’s tone.

“By the Twelve… a place they once slept in, I take it?” Y’shtola’s eyes roamed around the room, able to discern the changed architecture and aether.

“ _A place she and I once slept in, actually, a mixed memory of my room and hers from the time we lived apart, prior to our relationship. The fireplace is the only embellishment, given the material I have to work with. It suits the purpose_.” He sat down on the floor next to her.

“A wonderful place to find rest, certainly.” She leaned ever so slightly into him as Sarah looked on close by.

“ _So, what is it you would like to remember? Ah, but before I neglect, what I should call you; she calls you Shtola endearingly, I take it_?”

“As a nickname. Shorthand. For my full name, Y’shtola Rhul. I have many siblings and Sunseeker culture can be stifling in some respects, where it concerns women. She prefers to keep the Y tribe to one side out of respect, and to allow me more individuality.”

Sarah chimed in. “Y’mhitra, her sister, is someone I know less as a colleague in summoning magical studies and still refer to as such. But I know Y’shtola has… complicated feelings on her family and kin group.” They exchanged knowing glances, from a discussion held years ago, in Idyllshire.

“Moonkeepers by contrast have ever been something to envy, for me at least, given their matriarchal society and penchant for wandering and solitude.” Y’shtola placed a hand on Sarah’s, delicate fingers feeling her blue skin up a bit.

“Oh I wouldn’t call my own tribe something worth holding up as any better, in it’s own way. Women can bugger up good governance too, when it suits them. As my mother could attest.” Sarah shook her head as she spoke, thinking back on that distant time of her youth.

“Even so…” She adjusted her white hair, removing her feathers to allow the hair to drop down ever so slightly more.

“I see a lot of myself in Sarah, and wish that more of my kin could live as they wish in a similar fashion to her and I. If not in adventure, at least free to live as they choose. Not bound up in outdated ways of living under a man’s shadow.”

He nodded in understanding; in Amaurot, gender had been largely meaningless and fluid. He felt no such considerations were important, having only previously manipulated such concepts to suit the needs of the Ardor. Now, they were just a tragic reality like all the rest.

“ _Would you prefer then to find your former name_?” He returned to look at her, reassuringly.

“I doubt such things as this are so easy as to be chosen in such a fashion and brought forth from the well of memory. But I would not say no.”

“ _Very true, as Sarah can attest. Memory is elusive. Even I struggle to remember everything, after so many years and so many other lives I’ve led such as Solus bringing their own sets of associations to cloud the past_.” He thought for a moment.

“ _I suppose the best thing to do would then be to see what happens, then. What comes forth. Shall we begin?_ ” He snapped his fingers again and in a moment was completely naked, leylines of red caressing along his arms and up to his shoulders. They levitated and coiled around his arms as they did in his true form, something she had become much more acquainted with in their reunion, since their battle in Amaurot when she had first looked upon them.

Y’shtola squeaked a bit with the suddenness of this transformation, laughing and blushing in equal measure. “At least warn a lady when you intend to make yourself so… presentable!” Her eyes drank in every inch of him.

He smirked. “ _I am ever attentive in all things, my lady. I’ve been at this a long time, and some more then others can attest to the… magic of my ministrations. Presentation is everything_.”

“ _Sarah my dear, if you would_?”

She nodded knowingly; they had been planning this out silently via their bond for quite some time this evening, since the dinner. She now rose, snapped her own fingers, and was then also naked, purple leylines alike to his radiating along her arms and shoulders.

“You both planned this, didn’t you?”

“It’s important to treat someone you care about right. Emet’s taught me a few tricks I think you will enjoy.”

She stepped up and lifted a hand up to her. She accepted it and rose to her feet, both their leylines intermingling and gradually relieving her of her own robe and clothes.

“I recall Alphinaud said he’d never forget the sight of you naked. I must admit now, he wasn’t alone in that assessment.”

“Oh hush you. I’ll have you over my knee with such cheek!” She grinned, feeling the lines of power caress her now bare skin, exploring between them. She rose a finger to Shtola’s chin.

“A woman after my own heart.” She kissed her, as she had longed to do for quite some time, but had refrained from out of respect and friendship. In this moment however, longing was given free reign. He smiled as he regarded them both.

“ _She and I have already become… reacquainted, though there are limits to my ability to interact with the flesh given my current form. But never fear. She and I have something special planned for you this evening…_ ” He approached and came up behind Shtola, kissing the back of her neck softly with his lips.

“Ahhh.. I can see why she likes you already…” She eased back into him, even as Sarah continued to kiss her from the front, trailing her purple lips along her shoulders and down to suckle her breasts.

A thought occurred to Y’shtola, and she leaned her head back to regard him as Sarah continued to tease her nipples.

“I.. believe Emet-Selch is meant to be a title, yes?”

“ _And you would be correct_.” He traced a stray finger down the small of her back and along her tail. She shuddered.

“So what is your true name, then? If it is not too forward to ask ah…!”

“ _You were regrettably unconscious when it was uttered, in her fight with me upon the First. But even so, I should like for you to earn the right to call me by that name, when you coax it from my lips…_ ” He smirked, and she returned the sentiment.

“Very well. I can understand that. What must we do with him, I wonder?” She turned her head to Sarah.

“I have a few ideas. But first, we must needs tend to you, a lost soul in want for memory…” She gradually levitated Shtola with her leylines off the floor and laid her out upon the bed. She initially reacted with surprise before settling into the sheets, soft and inviting.

“Persephone, a beautiful name for a beautiful soul. Though I like Sarah just as well.” She gazed down at those familiar blue features smiling softly at her with a hunger in her eyes.

“I am happy for both names. You may use them interchangeably. Now relax and let me attend you…” She lowered her face between Shtola’s legs and began to explore her folds with her tongue. Soft moaning began to emanate from Shtola’s lips as she gripped the covering of the bed, gently but firmly.

Emet regarded them both a moment with a smile, trying still to read her aether and discern why she seemed so familiar. He approached and stood behind Sarah, caressing her purple hair with his hand, gently pressing her face into Y’shtola’s crotch.

“ _Please let me know if anything comes to you as we proceed_.” He looked up to Y’shtola quivering on the bed, enjoying herself.

“I imagine some things will come to me… ohhh… if she continues to do that with her tongue.” Purple leylines crept along Y’shtola’s skin, tingling the nerves with the softest of tickling sensations, coaxing yet more longing and wetness from her. Sarah drank her in, savouring at last this release and eager to see what more she could accomplish this night.

“I think I am ready to try that idea of yours now.”

“ _Very well. Relax and focus on my aether_.”

Y’shtola roused herself from her pleasure enough to look up at the sight of Emet pressing a hand to Sarah’s forehead from behind, and seeming to dissipate, red leylines mingling with her purple in a complex web of arcane brilliance across her skin, cresting at last with the briefest flash of Emet-Selch’s glyph upon her face. Her eyes changed ever so slightly, and her body seemed to shift and convulse for a moment. Her voice changed for a moment too, mingling with his, before settling back into Sarah’s.

“ _Ahhh… I do so enjoy pouring myself into her vessel_.”

“He fills me with a great deal of warmth, and provides me the means by which I might do the same for you, if you are willing.”

“In the past I’d call you both insane, and you especially for all the hell Thancred went through. Allowing an Ascian into yourself. But now, I suppose it would be something even I might like to try when I have a bit more… experience.”

“ _More to coax from her then. Lovely. Have at it hero_.”

“My pleasure.” She leapt up on top of the bed and on top of her and kissed her passionately now, tongues intermingling and tails swishing together as Sarah revealed her newest trick; a new set of genitalia, courtousy of Emet. Blue and throbbing. Shtola smiled, regarding it a moment with her hands softly hovering over its tip.

“He is generous for a Paragon, isn’t he? Possessed of a larger than life personality?” She smirked.

“It can be a struggle to contain it all sometimes! As you’ll see…” She caressed the top of Shtola’s clitoris, causing yet more moans and Y’shtola reaching her arms up to grip her friend’s back and pull her closer.

“ _Truly, placing my soul in that stone was the best decision I ever made_.”

“Didn’t get enough tender attentions as a servant of Darkness, Ascian?” She taunted him.

“ _I wouldn’t quite say that, but this is certainly more engaging by far…_ ” His glyph flashed again, illuminating her features and Sarah’s for a moment in the dim light. The fireplace continued to flicker on in the background, crackling aether warming a room already growing hot and heavy.

Sarah finally thrusted roughly into Shtola and began to work her hips back and forth, her purple tail now gracefully caressing the sides of Shtola’s ribs and stomach as the red and purple leylines of their twin souls worked to slowly bind Shtola’s arms and legs in such a fashion that she was at their collective mercy, the lines gradually moving to explore her anus, her ears, her cheeks and mouth, and all other locales of her body. Y’shtola, for her part, rapidly became overwhelmed by sensations she had never known. The sheer majesty of this moment washing over her in waves as lines of power overlapped across her face and gently kissed her eyelids.

She orgasmed, shuddering betwixt the lines and still being stuffed by Sarah over and over. Sarah leaned in for another kiss, continuing to pound her as they traded spit. Their ears drooping ever so slightly in acknowledgement of this affectionate embrace.

Another orgasm, this time shared as Sarah let loose the longing she had held back and came hard inside of her. Panting heavily.

“ _Delicious, not unlike yourself my dear. I like this one’s spirit_.”

“Keep going, I’ll give you more to enjoy…”

More thrusting, and swapped positions. Shtola taking a turn riding her, lights of the room and the leylines dancing over her skin and her white hair, flowing free. She exuded energy and sweat, shaking and aching for more as she danced upon Sarah’s hips. His gift.

“Ahhh yessssss!” Another orgasm. She collapsed into Sarah’s waiting arms, panting and grinning. Sarah softly pet her, massaging her skull beneath her hair and kissing her forehead.

“I’ve not always felt like this, for you. I had not wanted to ruin our friendship. But I am so grateful for you, and your trust in me. When I need it the most.”

“I understand, truly. After today… I know I would want for understanding. I wish I could help them see, as you do.”

“Hopefully someday. But I suspect this will be an uphill battle, just as it was today. None of the other cities will respond better, if this is the way of it.”

She lingered on inside of Shtola, taking in her warmth, not wanting to let go. Her hand caressed Shtola’s forehead, and there felt a sudden electricity. Static and clinging. And then…

“Augh!” An Echo, shared between them. They both fell over into the bed.

***

They found themselves in the empty void space of her mind, white horizon line static against the background, all else black. Emet walked up behind them. They each wore heavy grey robes, not unlike those of the Amaurotine shades, with hoods up.

He was the first to remove his hood, red mask of office glowering down from his face. He removed this too in turn, being in the company of familiar souls.

“ _I had a feeling it was you, old friend_.”

Sarah removed her hood, followed by her red mask of office, caressed with blades and downward expression, not unlike the mask Tataru had made for her prior to her journey to the First.

“Figured it out did you? Could have warned us before you brought her here. We were enjoying a moment!”

Y’shtola removed the hood, white hair flowing longer but with her form otherwise remaining the same. A white mask graced her face, shaped ever so slightly at its front like a raven’s beak and etched with playful lines, crisscrossing the cheeks. She pressed her hands to it gently.

“I… it’s still blurry but… something does seem right about this. I… remember… causing problems on purpose?”

“ _Sounds like something he would do, yes. Ever the trickster, that one_.”

“Of whom do you speak, Angel?” Y’shtola didn’t quite catch her understanding of his title’s other intention, even as she spoke it.

“ _A dear friend to Persephone and I. Someone who introduced us, a long time ago, in Amaurot’s Forum, and spent many years in our company, tireless in his efforts to not only support us in our many endeavours but in pushing us together. For our happiness_.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “ _I have not known a finer friend besides my dear Persephone, and now I am reunited with you as well, it would seem_.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. She’d had her suspicions but, it seemed too good to be true. Too much of a coincidence to find one such as him so close to her, all this time.

“Hythlodaeus?!?”

“ _The very same_.”

Y’shtola took the mask off and looked at it. A solitary tear left her eyes.

“T’would seem I’ve changed a great deal, since then. A great deal indeed…”

“ _I had been uncertain of Sarah’s soul for a long time. For you it was similar. Even so, it made it easier to find you amidst the roiling currents of the Lifestream. And to meet again after so wonderful a reunion with my love_!”

He embraced her, hugging her close, tears welling up and dropping from his own eyes, practically drifting in the air of that mental plane.

“ _Tis good to see you again my friend_!”

“Tis good to be able to see you again, Hades!” She returned the embrace, laughing heartily. She was beginning to remember too, in a flurry of emotions and images, cascading through her mind.

“And to share in all of this…” She retracted from the hug to look up at him, warm smiles and a hand on his cheek. “A lot really has changed. But I suppose some things never do, hmm?”

“He was the one to hand me my stone. Elidibus’ nature. To tell me of Ardbert’s connection to my soul. Of the sacrifices to Zodiark and so much else. And his constant chuckling…” Sarah looked over her old friend in a new light.

“And now here you are. As you’ve always been.” Her face was as bright and smiling as the sun itself.

“ _A companion through and through. Gladdens my heart to know you were in such good company, hero_.”

Sarah hugged her in turn, a few tears of her own flowing, an outpouring of emotion from each of them in turn.

“A little awkward, to go from that to this, and with his name. But I dare to say I think my former self would appreciate this ironic twist. And my current body!” She laughed, that familiar laugh. They laughed in turn with her.

“ _He was the Chief Architect of the Bureau of the Architect, the civil planning branch of Amaurot’s government. The position I held prior to being selected for the Convocation as Emet-Selch. He was the first to congratulate me, in part out of a desire to tease me at having been selected while Persephone yet remained ensconced in the Library. This was quite a while before she and I became acquainted, but even so, he knew from the moment he saw her that she was special, and saw the way she looked at me from afar. He had a way with soul Sight as I did, but could discern threads of fate clearer still, it always seemed to me. The original matchmaker, that one_.”

“Not unlike what I performed with Aymeric but a moment ago in miniature.”

“Just so.”

“And now we are together again to torment Hades for the rest of his long life!” They laughed, mingling their own recollections of the countless times they had teamed up to drive the Angel of Truth up the wall with endless antics and pranks.

“ _Yes. Quite…_ ” He feigned disappointment, but in his heart, he was positively ecstatic. He’d spent centuries observing children and adults playing pranks and other tricks upon one another, not least during holidays such as All Saint’s Wake in Eorzea. He had longed for a return to the days of being able to enjoy those things again with his two favourite people, even as he had previously cursed every whoopie cushion in the Convocation hall on his seat, every coating of glue on his office desk, every mysteriously ‘loose’ bird concept fluttering about his apartment in the early morning hours with Persephone always certain she had closed the windows that night.

They had such a dreadful habit of pooping on his robes.

He was almost looking forward to that again, as he regarded their reunion. As Y’shtola looked up at him in gratitude for this return of her memories.

“Would that I had a job stone like yours to record this moment for posterity.”

“ _Maybe, one day, we can create new ones, as I created this one for Sarah. But there is a great deal for you both to learn if you are to return to the fullness of what you have lost. For now, I would simply enjoy this moment_.”

“Certainly.” She hugged him again, Sarah joining her in turn for a group hug. They squeezed him between themselves, to which he gave a grunt and sigh.

“ _Some things never change_.”

***

They spent several bells ensconsed in Sarah’s mind, reminiscing over Hythlodaeus, Y’shtola’s prior life. Emet in turn learned a great deal as well of Y’shtola as she was now, and the long years of adventure she had shared with Sarah and the Scions, as well as her youth in Sharlayan.

As they came to, the night had grown to dawn, and it was beginning to turn to morning. Sarah laid close to Y’shtola upon the bed, their forms curled up together peacefully, tails interlaced. Sarah’s genitals had returned to their norm, and the bed itself was stained in various places with their various bodily fluids, and more then a few joyous tears. Sarah recalled the words they had related in her mind with Emet, resting her eyes first on the Sharlayan tattoos of the Circle of Knowing gracing her neck, Louisoix’s scholarly group from before the Calamity. Before the Scions.

They then came to regard her grey eyes, earned in struggle and the protection of all she held dear. Reckless in spellcasting, in Flow. But something akin to the power she had once possessed naturally in her prior life. Those same eyes now stared back in turn, studying this old friend of hers in a new light.

“We’ve had a long, strange journey together, haven’t we Sarah?”

“That’s to put it mildly, yes. I’m glad I’ve shared it with you though, my old new friend.”

She chuckled, her arm coming up briefly to her face in that same way she’d seen the shade do.

“I’d love to introduce you to him, if we can find him sometime in the First, in the recreation of the city. When we find a way there. He’s a bit… hard to pin down.”

The Azem stone glowed slightly from within Sarah’s discarded robes, near the bedside table on a chair.

“ _By design. I needed to make sure things weren’t too easy for you. And besides, now you have the real thing. It would be more elucidating for her, I think_.”

“Mmm.” Shtola stretched, sitting up on the bed. “I would like to meet my past self, certainly. When we go back. And we will go back. I still need to show Runar some of these tricks…”

They chuckled together before embracing for a kiss. “And we can certainly have a go at this again anytime you like.”

“Thank you for having my back all these years Shtola. Hythlodaeus. My cultured conjurer.”

“Thank you for these gifts, and your friendship, Warrior of Light. Sarah. Persephone.”

They rested their foreheads together, stretching aether out in gratitude, mingling together in the early morning light. Her purple leylines came up unbidden from her shoulders to meet a pair of quizzical, yellow leylines in turn, reaching from her own form. They played together in the air, as the two of them watched, entranced. Smiling.

“It’s enough to make one forget all the world’s woes for a while, remembering all of this. What we once were.”

“Yes. It really is.”

The words of the Count returned suddenly to her mind, but spoken now in Elidibus’ voice.

**“She may as well be an Ascian.”**

A few tears rose up at this, like a dagger in her stomach. She leaned over, Y’shtola catching her, picking up on this sudden shift in her soul.

“Is everything alright? Those are not happy tears, did something less pleasant return?”

“Argh.. you could say that, yes.”

Emet appeared before them, coaxed out from the stone in his Garlean attire, his default. He approached to place a hand on Sarah’s forehead.

“ _Elidibus_.”

Y’shtola appeared slightly confused at this. “He’s dead, isn’t he? Or did more of the Unsundered find means to avoid death too?”

“ _She dreamt of him, recently. A memory of him. A manifestation of Lord Zodiark, watching us. Watching me. He resents my loss, and the loss of his heart. He is targeting her to get to me, though how and for what reason I cannot yet say. It shouldn’t be possible while she yet retains Her blessing_.”

“Maybe I don’t quite retain Her blessing anymore. I don’t know. I don’t look at Hydaelyn the same way as I used to, given everything I’ve learned.” She narrowed her eyes at Emet.

“But how did you know about that dream the other night?”

“ _Your stone records a great deal, just as it imparts memory. It takes new memories in. And I have ready access to the freshest ones that come each day, such as this moment we have shared with Hythlodaeus. When you concluded that memory, I could tell by its nature and his words it was no invention of your mind but a true imprint of his soul on you. He persists in a sundered form not unlike I do, but unlike me it was done without intention. I cannot quite say from whence it came, though he claims it was because of us both in concert_.”

He placed a palm to his face, sighing. “ _Had I known that giving in to my baser urges would result in endangering you so I would have embraced patience instead. But after so long… I believe you can understand_.”

“Of course. And I feel no danger, not yet. It seems he just wants me to remember, and it’s not like I have Light corroding the efficacy of my soul from the inside as I did on the First.”

She placed an arm on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault, and I certainly wanted it as much as you. As much as tonight.”

A collective sigh.

“Seems there’s plenty for us three to do together, then. I would continue to aid you however I can, and moreso in this matter as I return to remembering how I once was.” She rose from the bed, beginning to redress, sliding her thigh-high boots up with a single motion.

“ _At least we can unravel this mystery with more company. Who knows who else we may discover hiding among your friends_?”

“For the moment I would ask that you keep this detail to yourself, Y’shtola. I’d rather not have people feel like I’m manipulating you too.”

“Abundance of caution. Not unlike the many times Urianger asked me to keep things from you, when he felt it in our collective best interest. I won’t make a habit of it, but given the circumstances, I will oblige for now. We need to let others come into this in their own time, as I have.”

“ _She understands. As ever_.”

“I also understand you aren’t terribly fond of birds, as I recall.” She smirked at him as she threaded an arm through her robe sleeves.

“Should we tell her the story about the shoebill?”

“Which one?” Another laugh, Sarah now across the room adjusting her own clothes and robe.

“ _I take it back, putting myself in the stone was the worst decision I ever made_.” He groaned. More laughter, and another group hug, the both of them fairly passing through his aethereal form as they moved in turn to embrace one another.

“A finer pair of friends I’ve never known.” She kissed Sarah’s cheek affectionately.

“We should go find some breakfast. All that excitement has made me quite ravenous again!”

“Me too. I need to make up for not eating much last night!”

“To the Crozier then, and we can think up what our inaugural prank will be to pull on him along the way!”

Already planning new tricks. He was positively beaming inside, even as he looked at them both as if they’d already heard the telltale drawl of a whoopie cushion beneath him.

As they raced out of the Knight and chatted happily up the steps to the Pillars, Sarah replayed the night’s events in her mind. Her surprise, her gratitude. The sweet taste of her mouth. The release.

And the image of Hythlodaeus, smiling at her from under his large, hooded robe and mask, as they had been when she first met him again in the phantom Amaurot, waiting in line for her number to be called.

She’d been with her the whole time. In one of her dearest friends and colleagues.

And then the words of Emet, from when they had first entered the Toll together, some days prior.

“ _What a world this is, hero_.”

Elidibus, chiding her in her mind, in that vision of the Chrysalis.

**“You do forget yourself. You forget so much. I would have you remember.”**

The double edged sword of memory, looming back at her, as sharp as Emet’s smiling, smirking face and cunning wit. A man himself of such duality. Such complexity. Rousing so much from her, and now, those around her. Even rousing the dead, it seemed.

As they rounded a corner, still chatting away, she remembered once more the nature of her role. To gather the stars to her side. To travel alongside them and learn of the world. It’s true nature. To guide the Star.

She smiled at this. Whatever else came about, she would do this. She would find them all. As many as she could, all her old companions, wherever they could be found, in any form. The Convocation members most especially, among them being certainly the remaining Ascians. She had to find them. To try and reason with them. However slim a chance there was for the prevention of further tragedy and violence, she would take it. She did not want to have to murder any more of her people in ignorance.

A sudden hand in hers. Y’shtola, pulling her back to reality, smiling at her.

“Come along hero, this way.”

She was grateful to be in such fine company again. Perhaps they would be more willing to listen to him, if not her.

She could only hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work explores the idea of Y'shtola Rhul as Hythlodaeus, but in terms of commentary on fan theories and as romantic, sexy self indulgence, not as a canon lore position. I remain skeptical that Y'shtola is a sundered Hythlodaeus. I'd be happy to an extent if it turned out to be true, but with some caveats, not least being that Y'shtola herself still wants for a bit of character development and to be placed outside her depth in terms of not knowing about things near instantly. 
> 
> Having her character shared with a character that would, in many respects, have even more knowledge of the world on the innate level Ancients did would, I feel, preclude her ability to continue to develop as a Scion and friend of the Warrior of Light. As such, I will be trying to gauge with my work the nature of that potential circumstance, to collect my thoughts on this idea so to speak. Feel free to let me know what you think as well in the comments.


End file.
